??? - organic doesn't mean that the grower necessarily used heirloom seeds - if it's a big commercial grower that has gone the organic route >>> he's still using regular seeds because he doesn't harvest seeds from his own crop ....
Yes! NOT mentioning that unless they are a huge grower, with many acres of a single variety of squash or whatever, the seeds (even IF the squash is an OP or heirloom variety) will almost certainly be a cross.
Now, tomatoes and peppers can be grown relatively close together without insect protection, and you'll get *mostly* pure seed. I've been saving seeds (and developing several sweet bell pepper varieties which produce well in our short seasons) from tomatoes and peppers for years. I plant different varieties at different ends of the garden, and so far, I haven't ever had unexpected results.
Also, dry beans and peas are essentially self-pollinating, and to the best of my knowledge, there aren't any hybrid varieties out there.
But any vine crop, even if heirloom varieties, is likely to be crossed.
This year, my goal is to hand pollinate several heirloom/OP pumpkin, squash and melon varieties. Seeds from vine crops store quite well, and you can get several ounces of seed from a single fruit. As long as you save seeds from at least two different vines (and when pollinating the female blossom, use a male from a different vine (same variety, though!) You can avoid inbreeding issues.
One change i think I'm going to need to make if the GSM does mean much wetter summers is switching ftom bush beans to pole varieties. I have enough tall stock panels for about 120 feet of row... way more than we'd ever need if used to grow pole beans! I've been growing some favorite varieties of bush green and yellow beans, and started trying to save seeds in the past few years. But the wet summer and fall (along with the difficulty of keeping the weeds under control, also a rain related problem) creates huge mold snd disease issues. I did manage to get a couple pounds of seeds, but they look pretty sad. Interestingly, i germ tested some, and germination was near 100%
But pole beans should be easier on our spines for picking, too. Now i just have to see if i csn find varieties we likewe prefer a round pod, not the flat Italian types, and there just hasn't been as much research onpole besns as bush types, fir obvious reasons...
Summerthyme